About

I research social and collaborative technologies, investigating how people use diverse kinds of interactive devices and systems in real world situations and places.

Much of my research examines how people organise their social activities with and around interactive devices and systems. Studies of this can often speak to—and offer correctives for—design. One approach I often use is to employ video recordings of socio-technical settings. Over time my research has come to be informed conceptually and empirically by the traditions of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, although not exclusively.

Like many who work in HCI, CSCW and related areas, my work is often very collaborative and multidisciplinary, involving artists, sociologists, psychologists, and engineers. The outputs of such collaborations often result in the development of design frameworks and design principles which can sensitise and guide future work.

Understanding interaction in public settings

A major strand of my work revolves around deployments of
interactive technology in public and semi-public places settings such as museums
and galleries, crowded urban locations, and artistic or performance events
taking place anywhere from city streets to dedicated venues. A key driver for this has been developing understanding the importance of spectatorship within these spaces, but it has also addressed more generally how we design for a variety of forms of technological engagements in public.

Examining practices with technology in other settings

Studies of practices with and around technology in a range of other settings than public or semi-public ones. While more of my research has examined the arts and cultural settings, the papers here focus on technology use in other kinds of environments such as workplaces and the home.

The methods, concepts, and practices of technology research itself

This work is concerned with examining technology research practices themselves. This includes unpacking the concepts we work with in research—such as 'futures' or 'science'—as well as reflections upon the various methods that we use.

The ‘work’ of playing video games

Video games have seen enormous attention from research. Curiously, though, the vast majority of this work tends to avoid any detailed study of the interactional 'work' involved in playing video games. There is still a limited EMCA literature on this topic. My work here also crosses into concerns of play and spectatorship.

EPSRC Fellowship

I currently hold an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship. The Fellowship is premised broadly on investigating the links between academic HCI research, and the work of user experience and design (UX&D) professions in industry. As part of this, the Fellowship also examines the state of HCI research practices themselves intellectual endeavours.

I have built a number of web-based resources related to the Fellowship, which are listed here:

There is a mailing list for discussing the connections between academic HCI research and UX&D professional communities. To join, please email listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk with the message body "SUBSCRIBE UX-RPI Firstname Lastname" and a blank subject line.